William b



(No Model.)

' W. B. LASSCELL.

UNITING STRAW BRAID 0N SEWING MACHINES. No. 269,432. Patented D.e0. 19, 1882,

To all whom it may concern:

, being stretched by the tension and take-up of dicated, the work-guide, which is carried by work-guide. I

and lowered while the needle is in the fabric UNITED STATES I PAT NT OFFICE.

WILLIAM B. LASSOELL, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

UNITING STRAW BRAID ON SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 269,432, dated December 19, 1882.

Application filed November 27, 1882.

Be it known that 1,WILLIAM B. LASSOELL, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Uniting Straw Braid on Sewing-Machines, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification.

This invention has for its object to enable straw braids to be united on a sewingmachine of any ordinary or suitable construction without the stitches being so clearly apparent on the right side of the goods as ordinarily;

The invention relates to the uniting of that class of braid which has the straws twisted at the edge, thus leaving a depression or eye in each straw. I have discovered that by'running the seam through these depressions or eyes in the outer overlapping edge of the braid that the stitches are but little apparent on the right side, the thread between the needle-punctures lying below the upper surface of the braid along the edge thereof, and being also in part concealed or embedded in the body of the straws. The distance which the said thread lies below the top surface depends upon the size of the straw and the consequent fineness of the braid. This for the reason that with coarse braid the sewing can be made relatively nearerthe edge, and also becausethe bentends of thestraws, which form the edge of the braid, are more nearly at right angles to the flat surfaces than in finer braid. On account of the twist in the straw, whereby-the fihersin the eyes or depressions rel'erredto lie in or approximately in the line of the seam, the thread the sewing-machine, splits the straw until it reaches the cross-fibers, and to that extent embeds itself in the straw.

In order to sew the braid in the manner inthe presser-foot in the ordinary straw-hat sewin g-machines, (see patents granted to Charles H. Willcox, August 12, 1879, No. 218,413, and September 6,1881, No. 246,700,) is adjusted closer to the needle than heretofore, and to allow it to act in this position and to be raised a groove is cut in the guiding-edge of said (No model.)

In order that the invention and the means of carrying it into eflect may be fully understood, the same will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Figure 1 shows in plan the tip or top of the crown of a hat in process of formation and the Presser-foot,work-guide,work-plate, and braid- .the braidgnides or guides for the entering braid carried by said work-plate, and E the needle. These parts, as shown, are constructed as described in, the aforesaid patents of Willcox, exceptthat the presser-footis cut away to allow the work-guide tobe adjusted .closer to the needle, and the guiding-edge of said work-guide is grooved at a, opposite the needle, and that the work-guide is cut away underneath to the right of the dotted line 2, so as to allow the part 3 of the entering braid to pass freely under it.

The straw braid is represented by F. Along one edge, I), are a series of depressions or eyes, 0, formed by giving a half-twist to the straws as they are bent' over the edge of the'braid. This-twist is most clearly shown in Fig. 4,and the effect will be apparent by comparing this edge b with the opposite edge, 01, on which the straws are folded over without twisting. In sewing thebraid the edge b, which is the overlapping outer edge, is guided by the workguide so that the needle passes through the eyes or depressions, as shown in Fig. 1.

The

feed is preferably adjusted so that the needle coarse, the stitches 0 lie about midway of the edge; but they could be made higher up orlower down by sewing farther from or closer to the edge. The thread between the parts 0 is embedded in the straw, the straw being split lengthwise of the fibers, as represented in dotted linesf.

Instead of grooving the guiding-edge of the work-guide, the shank of the needle could he cut away on the side adjacent thereto, which would allow the needle to operate in the desired proximity to the guiding-edge.

Articles of straw braid which have been sewed in the manner explained embody my improvement, so that they are readily distinguishable from articles heretofore known and used. They therefore form part of my invention.

This invention is applicable to chip and other braid, as well-as to straw braid, strictly so calledthat is, braid made from the stalks of cereal grains.

No claim is made herein broadly to the method of uniting straw braid by running the seams along the edges of the overlapping braids below the uppersurface thereof, so that the thread between the needle punctures on the right side of the article is concealed or rendered less apparent, nor to an article of straw braid having the layers united by sewiiig machine stitches, whereof the thread between the needle-punctures on the right side of the article lies below the upper surface of the overlapping braid, along the edge thereof, these broad claims being reserved to my application for Letters Patent, filed March 16,

1882, and ofticially numbered 55,479, of whiclv the present application is a division and continuation.

Having now fully described my said invention and the manner of carrying the sameinto effect, what I claim is- 1. An article composed of straw braids having eyes or depressions along their edges, the several layers making up the article being united by sewing-machine stitches, whereof the thread between the needle-punctures on the right side of the'article lies below the upper surface of the overlapping braid along the edge having said eyes or depressions, substantially as described.

2. In uniting straw braids having eyes or depressions, the method of concealing or rendering less apparent the stitches on the right side of the fabric byrunning the seam through u said eyes or depressions, substantially as described.

3. The method of uniting straw braid having eyes or depressions on the edge by overlapping the braids, automatically or mechanically guiding the same,.and feeding them to the sewing mechanism, and running the seam through the eyes or depressions of the upper overlapping braid and the body of the under braid, substantially as described.

In testimony whereot'l have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witmesses.

\V. B. LASSGELL.

Witnesses:

EDWIN G. VVALKER, AUG. L. PIGAUDE. 

